Police found this chunk of a teenager’s mangled hand being feasted on by ants after it was torn off in a blast caused by a home made grenade and sent flying 100 feet away.

Members of the Taitung County fire service were called to the popular Zhiben Hot Spring resort in Beinan Township in south-eastern Taiwan on 30th January.

They found the 17-year-old, surnamed Lin, with a bloody right hand which had suffered severe blast injuries, his flesh having been split from the bone and his entire thumb missing.

They also found pieces of flesh and bone, on which armies of ants were feasting within a blast radius of 100 feet.

He was rushed to the Taitung branch of Mackay Memorial Hospital and underwent eight hours of emergency surgery, with medics ultimately amputating his right hand at the wrist in order to save his arm.

Doctors say Lin is in stable condition but also nursing blast injuries on his face. He has been transferred to Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital in neighbouring Hualien County.

Lin’s friend, who was also present at the resort, claims the accident happened as they were playing with bangers; however, investigators have failed to find any trace of fireworks at the scene besides the residue of what is likely to be gunpowder.

During further question, the friend admitted the pair had been stripping bangers and placing the powder into a cylinder, which they wanted to light and throw into a river like a homemade hand grenade.

But Lin misjudged the length of the fuse in the darkness and it exploded in his right hand before he could throw it.

Authorities say Lin was unable to provide a written statement due to his present condition.

According to reports, the pair’s actions may have breached Taiwan’s ‘Firework and Firecracker Management Act’, which prohibits minors from handling pyrotechnics unless adults are present.